Friday, December 5, 2008

Election Reflection

Bush Advisor Karl Rove took a much-deserved shot at the campaign finance system this week in the WSJ.

"Mr. Obama's victory marks the death of the campaign finance system. When it was created after Watergate in 1974, the campaign finance system had two goals: reduce the influence of money in politics and level the playing field for candidates.This year it failed at both. OpenSecrets.org tells us a record $2.4 billion was spent on this presidential election. And with Mr. Obama's wide financial advantage, it's clear that money is playing a bigger role than ever and candidates are not competing on equal footing."Aprroximately 130 million Americans voted in the Presidential election last month. Next time around why don't we have voters give each other $18 each and call it a stimulus package as well? It is ridiculous that anywhere near $2.4 billion could be spent on an election. This country really needs to get that number as close to zero as possible. Anything that leads to reform of the system would be a great thing.

On another note, the idea that McCain had a shot had he raised more money seems a stretch, though. While I wasn't an Obama fan, his message hit home.